Abuja — As the federal government continues its advocacy for greater farming,communities in Southern Kaduna have taken the gauntlet and returned to their farms. LEADERSHIP visit to Fadan Kagoma, Jemaa local government in Kaduna State showed the land green as almost every parcel is now cultivated.

Most common produce seen on the farms include ginger, groundnuts, maize and Guinea corn. Speaking with Leadership a small holder farmer, Mrs Joy Bulus said this year almost everybody returned to the farm.

She said "things have been so hard for everybody that the only option is to return to the farm. As it is ,it is most rewarding and no matter how hard it is one cannot complain of the rewards of farming,because no,matter how hard it is there would always be food and even a little extra for other things"

She said even people from the city returned to the village or hired a handful of workers to help them farm. She stated that with as low as N500 a day, an intending farmer can get a worker to farm all day for him or her.

Another farmer who also spoke with LEADESHIP, Uwargida said" I have always farmed but this year I expanded my acreage. I farmed rice, ginger and maize. I also put groundnuts in some of my farms. Last year, I had planted five mudus of maize and the turnout was really good. This year I have increased it to 12 mudus, so I know the harvest will be much" she said

Recall that in an earlier interview with LEADERSHIP, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief AuduOgbeh had said "We also succeeded in telling Nigerians that agriculture is the alternative. We published a document called the Green Alternative and the message has gone everywhere and the response to agriculture and agriculture investment has never been as massive as it is now.

"With big farmers, small farmers, even young educated people beginning to recognize the fact that this is where to go for a country to survive. We have done a new soil map of Nigeria and farmers now know and more and more of them are getting to know that every soil has a specific nutritional need, so you do not just apply the same old fertilizers we did in the past.

"What they called NPK 15:15:15, we now have varieties pending on where you are planting, the result has been a quantum leap in the yields on virtually all crops, from 2 tonnes in some cases to 5 and even seven half" he said.

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